Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24937050›Full record

ArticlePloS one2014

Why do forward maskers affect auditory intensity discrimination? Evidence from "molecular psychophysics".

Daniel Oberfeld, Patricia Stahn, Martha Kuta

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Daniel OberfeldSection Experimental Psychology, Department of Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
Patricia StahnSection Experimental Psychology, Department of Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
Martha KutaSection Experimental Psychology, Department of Psychology, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Nonsimultaneous maskers can strongly impair performance in an auditory intensity discrimination task. Using methods of molecular psychophysics, we quantified the extent to which (1) a masker-induced impairment of the representation of target intensity (i.e., increase in internal noise) and (2) a systematic influence of the masker intensities on the decision variable contribute to these effects. In a two-interval intensity discrimination procedure, targets were presented in quiet, and combined with forward maskers. The lateralization of the maskers relative to the targets was varied via the interaural time difference. Intensity difference limens (DLs) were strongly elevated under forward masking but less with contralateral than with ipsilateral maskers. For most listeners and conditions, perceptual weights measuring the relation between the target and masker levels and the response in the intensity discrimination task were positive and significant. Higher perceptual weights assigned to the maskers corresponded to stronger elevations of the intensity DL. The maskers caused only a weak increase in internal noise, unrelated to target level and masker lateralization. The results indicate that the effects of forward masking on intensity discrimination are determined by an inclusion of the masker intensities in the decision variable, compatible with the hypothesis that the impairment in performance is to a large part caused by difficulties in directing selective attention to the targets. The effects of masker lateralization are evidence for top-down influences, and the observed positive signs of the masker weights suggest that the relevant mechanisms are located at higher processing stages rather than in the auditory periphery.

Indexed as

Loudness PerceptionPsychoacousticsAcoustic StimulationAdultAuditory ThresholdFemaleHumansMalePerceptual MaskingYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID24937050
PMCPMC4061042

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.